


Reasons Why Cooking is Hazardous

by PrismaPup7



Series: The Struggles of Being a Clone [3]
Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: But he is also soft, Cooking, Fluff, Humor, Hyrule is sassy okay, I DONT MAKE THE RULES, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, This is gonna escalate quickly, Time is the ultimate dad, Twilight's sus of Wild, no beta we die like the champions, so buckle up
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 10:53:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27849722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrismaPup7/pseuds/PrismaPup7
Summary: Wild is slowly trying to adjust to the group of Heroes while keeping quiet about his true identity, but Hylia always finds ways to throw obstacles into his path.
Relationships: Time & Twilight (Linked Universe)
Series: The Struggles of Being a Clone [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2000020
Comments: 2
Kudos: 78





	Reasons Why Cooking is Hazardous

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I actually have an idea about what I'm doing with this series, and there will be more fics to come, although updates may be a little slow.
> 
> This fic transformed into something completely different than what I was originally planning, but it turned out pretty good so it's now going to be a three-parter! Yay!
> 
> I hope you all enjoy, and have a lovely day/night! :3
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Legend of Zelda or Linked Universe. All credit goes to Nintendo and jojo!

"Hey, Time! What do you think of the new Hero?"

Without breaking his steady pace, Time glanced over at his protege with a raised eyebrow. "What do you mean?" he asked, a bit suspiciously. After all, Wild had only been traveling with them for a few days.

Twilight looked over his shoulder to where said teenager was currently chatting with Hyrule, arms gesturing in the air as he described something with enthusiasm. "I'm just asking what you think of him," Twilight replied mildly. "You seem to be a good judge of character, is all."

Time narrowed his eyes. Twilight hadn't asked for his opinion on any of the other heroes; except for Legend, but everyone had been a little cautious of the sarcastic Hero when they'd first met him, so Time didn't count it. How was Wild any different from everyone else? "...You don't trust him?" he guessed.

Twilight started, before shrugging, blue-gray eyes darting away. "...I don't know. There's just something... off, about him. I can't figure out what it is, though."

Time ran a thoughtful hand through his hair, taking a moment to scan their surroundings. The group of nine was currently traveling through a forest in Four's Hyrule, and he didn't want to be caught in a surprise ambush. There was plenty of foilage for enemies to hide behind, and the loud crunching of their shoes on the dirt path didn't help their stealth factor at all.

He turned his attention back to Twilight, considering Wild's behavior ever since the new Hero had joined them. The teenager was friendly enough, although he had nearly sliced off Legend's head when they'd first approached him. The only off-putting detail about him at the moment were the huge scars that littered the left side of his face. They appeared to run all the way down his body, and Time was honestly scared to even ask what had caused them.

Anyone that looked as young as Wild shouldn't have scars like that.

"Is it the scars?" Time questioned.

"While those _are_ concerning, no, that's not it," Twilight muttered, rubbing his chin and staring into the trees thoughtfully. "Its just sort of... instinctual. Like, something's not fully right about him, but it's nearly impossible to tell just by looking at him."

Time looked back to Wild again. Both he and Hyrule had roped Wind into their conversation, and the three were laughing about something on Wild's slate. Twilight was right - from the Hylian eye, Wild seemed like a perfectly normal guy.

He raised an eyebrow at Twilight. "Are you sure?" he asked skeptically. "Because you said the same thing about Legend, and he turned out to be just fine, if not a little... rough around the edges." As he said this, Legend proceeded to grab Warriors by the arm and tried to steal his precious scarf, cackling like a madman.

Twilight snorted under his breath as Warriors screeched and shoved the younger boy away, a small fight ensuing. "Yeah, that's an understatement."

Time couldn't help his small chuckle. "True." His smile faded, and he regarded Twilight with a serious look. "But I'm serious. Are your instincts telling you that he can't be trusted?"

Twilight hesitated. "Well... no," he replied slowly. He stubbornly crossed his arms, eyes fixed on the dirt path ahead. "But there really _is_ something off with him, I swear!"

Time sighed, brushing a strand of blonde hair out of his face. "...Okay, okay. Why don't you just try to get to know him a little better? I'm sure you'll figure it out sooner or later. Wild had been pretty friendly so far, so I don't think it'll be too difficult."

The younger Hero grinned up at him, fanged teeth briefly glinting in the sunlight. "That's not a half-bad idea, old man!"

Time smacked him upside the head none-too-gently. "I thought I warned everyone not to call me that," he stated firmly, though with no real heat behind his words.

Twilight snickered, rubbing his head. "Oh come on, lighten up!" he teased. "Otherwise, everyone is just going to think that you're a serious adult all the time!"

Time gave him the most deadpan look he could muster. "...I _am_ a serious adult all the time."

"Yeah, okay."

"I _am!"_ Time insisted, slightly offended.

"Whatever you say, _old man,"_ Twilight replied cheekily, before picking up his pace and running down the path, leaving Time behind.

"Hey!" Time yelled, before fondly rolling his eyes with a sigh and letting Twilight run ahead. After all, it was almost sunset. He could argue with his protege after they set up camp.

* * *

Wild hummed to himself as he walked back to the campsite, his arms full of sticks and logs for the fire. He would much rather be cooking, but none of the Links had asked him to do so yet, and he was happy to wait his turn. He completely understood their caution; he was new to the group, and they had to make sure they could trust him before tasking him with something like cooking their food.

Speaking of the group, Wild could honestly say that he was fitting in fairly well. Wind was fun to exchange stories with, Warriors and Legend were incredibly amusing to watch, and Sky was super sweet. Hyrule shared his love of nature, and Four was generally a pretty chill guy. The only ones who were still treating him with distance were Time and Twilight, but Wild had noticed that the oldest Hero treated nearly everyone that way, save for Twilight.

Wild had full confidence that he would gain their friendships as well. Before he had defeated Calamity Ganon and saved Zelda, everyone he had met throughout Hyrule became his friend. Of course, a large portion of them were because he fulfilled their requests, but he still held quite a few close to his heart. Apparently, he was an extremely friendly, easy-to-like guy.

As long as the truth didn't come out, he was safe with these Heroes.

With an added skip to his step, the scarred Hylian entered the clearing, setting the wood down in a pile next to Sky, who gave him a nod and a smile of gratitude. Wild returned the gesture, before finding himself a spot underneath a towering oak tree and settling down, hands itching to do something. Usually, he would pull out the Sheikah Slate when he was bored, but he wasn't sure how the others would react upon seeing the ancient Sheikah technology.

Judging by the stories he'd heard so far, and their appearances, none of these Heroes were the one that came 10,100 years before him. He wasn't sure whether any of them had even faced the Calamity, although he had heard Legend briefly mention Ganon once. He honestly wasn't even sure if any of them _had_ Sheikah in their Hyrules.

To play it safe, he decided to wait a couple more days, just to build up trust. It was obvious some of them weren't used to him yet, and he'd rather slip into their routine gently, instead of just breaking in by showing off all his skills and items.

To occupy himself, Wild simply picked up a stick and attempted to draw what he thought was a Keese. He was just deciding that it looked more like Vah Medoh when someone's shadow fell over him, blocking the last few rays of sunlight.

"Hey, Wild, dinner's ready," Warriors informed him, hands on his hips. He blinked, glancing down at the crudely-drawn creature in the dirt, then tilted his head. "...Is that a bokoblin with dragon wings for legs?"

Wild snorted, scratching it out. He could definitely check drawing off the list of things he might be skilled at. "Not anymore," he said, standing up and rolling out his shoulders. "So, what's for dinner?" He trailed behind the Captain to the fire, where everyone else was already gathered.

Warriors wrinkled his nose. "Oh, it was Hyrule's night to cook... Hopefully it isn't poisonous."

Wild frowned. "Is he really that bad? I mean, it really isn't that hard to cook a simple..." he trailed off as the scent of burnt rubber reached his nose.

Warriors seemed to read his disgusted expression, nodding wearily. "Yup."

"Oh, Wild!" Hyrule chirped, standing up as they reached the cooking pot, a wooden ladle in hand. "Maybe _you'll_ appreciate my cooking." He pouted for a moment. "Nobody else thinks it's all that good."

"Because it isn't," Warriors stated matter-of-factly, taking a seat next to Sky and completely ignoring the bowl Hyrule tried to give him. "I'm not hungry anymore, thanks."

"Don't be rude!" Sky muttered, nudging him with an elbow. "Just take some. It actually isn't half-bad if you close your eyes and pretend it's something else."

Hyrule huffed, waving his ladle at the two. "See if I ever cook for you guys again!" he threatened, in a very non-threatening voice.

Wild could've sworn that he heard Wind mutter, _"Thank Hylia,"_ under his breath.

"Anyways!" Suddenly, Hyrule's huge deep-blue eyes were focused back on Wild. "You wanna have some? I call it, 'The Hyrule Mushroom Supreme!'" The energetic boy thrust a bowl of the substance right into Wild's face with a bright grin.

Wild blinked down at the mish-mash of what appeared to be boiled mushrooms, squished apple, and... was that _grass?_

He shrugged, taking the bowl anyway. He'd eaten worse before - this was nothing. He supposed he could deal with it for the time being.

Warriors sent him a horrified look as he sat down. "You should've run while you had the chance," he whispered loudly out of the corner of his mouth.

Wild rolled his eyes, ignoring the Captain and scooping up some of the meal. The entire campsite seemed to hold its breath as he took a tentative bite, face changing thoughtfully as he chewed.

"...It's not bad," Wild finally said, poking at it with his spoon. "I mean, it's definitely not as bad as rock-hard or dubious food, that's for sure."

"What now?" Wind asked curiously, setting his untouched bowl aside.

Wild was startled to realize that everyone was staring at him now. He slowly lowered his dish, swallowing. "Uh... dubious and rock-hard food?" he tried. "You get rock-hard food from mixing ore into your recipe, and you get dubious food by mixing food with monster parts and whatnot. I... it's easily one of the first thing you learn when you try to make your own recipes."

Something seemed to click in Four's brain, and he scooted forward. "Wait, you can cook?"

Legend gasped. "Oh, Hylia, please tell me that you can cook."

Wild rubbed the back of his neck. All this attention was starting to make him feel a little uncomfortable. "Uh... yeah, I guess? I mean, with my Hyrule the way it is, I needed to learn how to cook on the go."

"What do you mean, your Hyru-" Time began in a worried tone, but was quickly overtaken by excited exclamations from all the other Heroes.

"No way!"

"No more disgusting meals? Yes, please!"

"Thank Hylia!" Warriors poured out his bowl on the ground. "Finally, someone with real skill!"

"Wait, hold on just a second!" Twilight interrupted loudly. "How do we know if his food is actually good? I mean, Hyrule said he could cook, but..."

Hyrule regarded everyone with narrowed eyes. "Oh, sure, let's all insult Hyrule when he's standing right in front of us," he stated dryly. "I'm _positive_ that won't hurt his feelings or anything."

"Sorry," Warriors apologized sincerely, before shrugging. "But you _are_ aware that your cooking needs some work, right?"

Sky elbowed him in the side again. "Warriors!" he hissed.

Hyrule didn't seem too insulted by Warriors' comment. "No, it's okay, I know. It's just hard to learn how to cook good food when fresh ingredients and recipes are so hard to come by."

The clearing fell silent, with Hyrule rubbing his arm while Warriors glanced away, ashamed.

Wild cleared his throat, hoping to break the tension. "...Well, is it all right if I make a second dinner?" he offered, hand already reaching for his Sheikah Slate before he remembered his earlier thoughts. "Hyrule and I can go hunt for some ingredients."

The fluffy-haired boy immediately perked up, eyes shining brightly. "Really?!" He turned to Time. "Can I go with him? Please?"

Time shared an unreadable glance with Twilight, before waving a hand nonchalantly. "Go ahead. We already cleared the area of any monsters, so just bring a couple of torches and be back as soon as possible."

Hyrule pumped a fist into the air. "Yes! Come on, Wild!" He snatched up a stick from the campfire, barely flinching as sparks landed on his hand. Wild couldn't help but grin at his enthusiasm, picking up his own stick and following him into the lush woods.

Out of all the Links, Hyrule was his favorite so far.

As they disappeared into the woods, Wild's ears barely caught Twilight whisper to Time, "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"They'll be fine, Twilight," Time reassured him quietly. "Hyrule can handle himself."

"...All right."

* * *

_Meanwhile, deep in the shadows..._

A pair of glowing eyes snapped open, filled to the brim with evil and hatred.

A cacophony of low growling filled the night.


End file.
